SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING AND MANAGING LIFE CONSUMPTION OF GAS TURBINE PARTS

• US 20160160762A1
• Filed: 12/08/2014
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology, LLC (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Chandra, Ramu Sharat, Pandey, Achalesh Kumar, Muench, David Stephen, PAI, Niranjan Gokuldas
• Granted Patent: US 10,626,748 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 21/003 Arrangements for testing or measuring for measuring vibrations G01H
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 21/14 responsive to other specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 9/28 Regulating systems responsive to plant or ambient parameters, e.g. temperature, pressure, rotor speed F02C9/30 - F02C9/38, F02C9/44 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/81 Modelling or simulation
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/821 Parameter estimation or prediction
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2270/11 to prolong engine life
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06

Abstract

A method for estimating and managing life of a gas turbine is provided. The method includes estimating a remaining useful life of a component of a gas turbine, obtaining parameters of the gas turbine, at least one of which comprises the estimate of the remaining useful life of a component of the gas turbine, assigning operating weightages to the gas turbine parameters based a plant objective, generating a set point for operating the gas turbine based on the weighted gas turbine parameters, and adjusting an operating characteristic of the gas turbine to meet the set point.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

estimating a remaining useful life of a component of a gas turbine;

obtaining parameters of the gas turbine, at least one of which comprises the estimate of the remaining useful life of a component of the gas turbine;

assigning operating weightages to the gas turbine parameters based a plant objective;

generating a set point for operating the gas turbine based on the weighted gas turbine parameters; and

adjusting an operating characteristic of the gas turbine to meet the set point.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas turbine component comprises at least one of a gas turbine compressor part, a gas turbine combustor part, a turbine part, a gas turbine auxiliary component part, and a bottoming cycle part.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the remaining useful life of the gas turbine component is based at least in part on at least one of an estimated maintenance cost of the component of the gas turbine and an estimated scrap cost of the component of the gas turbine.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising computing an estimate of uncertainty in the estimated remaining useful life of the gas turbine component and using the uncertainty for assigning the operating weightages.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising estimating the remaining useful life of the gas turbine component by predicting an estimate of the remaining useful life of the gas turbine component using a cumulative damage of a failure modes of the gas turbine component, an estimated operating profile of the gas turbine component into the future, and a design limit of the gas turbine component.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising computing the cumulative damage of the failure mode based on a damage accumulation rate at the gas turbine component.

7. A method comprising:

determining an operating criterion of a gas turbine;

computing a cumulative damage from a failure mode for a component of the gas turbine using the operating criterion;

predicting an estimate of a remaining useful life of the component of the gas turbine using the cumulative damage of the failure mode of the component;

assigning operating weightages to gas turbine parameters based on a plant objective, wherein the estimate of the remaining useful life of the component of the gas turbine is one of the gas turbine parameters;

generating a set point for operating the gas turbine based on the weighted gas turbine parameters; and

adjusting an operating characteristic of the gas turbine to meet the set point.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the operating criterion of the gas turbine comprises determining the operating criterion based on an obtained operating characteristic and an estimated operating characteristic.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the obtained operating characteristic is obtained from a gas turbine sensor, and wherein the one or more estimated operating characteristics are estimated based on the obtained operating characteristic.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein computing the cumulative damage of the failure mode for the component of the gas turbine comprises computing the cumulative damage based on a damage accumulation rate at the component as a function of the operating criterion.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining an actual damage measurement of the component of the gas turbine and combining the actual damage measurement with the cumulative damage in a damage accumulation model for predicting the estimate of the remaining useful life of the component of the gas turbine.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising obtaining actual damage measurements, cumulative damage, or a combination thereof of the component of an additional gas turbine and combining the actual damage measurements and the cumulative damages of the additional gas turbine with the cumulative damage or a combination of the cumulative damage and the actual damage measurement of the component of the gas turbine in a damage accumulation model for predicting the estimate of the remaining useful life of the component of the gas turbine.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the operating criterion comprises determining a stress at the component, a strain at the component, a temperature of the component, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the estimate of the remaining useful life of the component is further computed based on an estimated operating profile of the component, and a design limit of the component.

15. A system for predicting and managing a remaining useful life of a gas turbine comprising:

a life prediction module for predicting an estimate of a remaining useful life of a component of the gas turbine, wherein the life prediction module comprises;

a criterion identifier for determining an operating criterion of the component of the gas turbine;

a damage identifier for computing a cumulative damage of a failure mode at the component of the gas turbine using the operating criterion; and

a prediction unit for predicting an estimate of a remaining useful life of the component of the gas turbine using the cumulative damage of the failure mode at the component;

a weightage identifier for assigning operating weightages to gas turbine parameters based on a plant objective;

an optimizer for generating a set point for operating the gas turbine based on the weighted gas turbine parameters; and

a gas turbine controller for adjusting an operating characteristic of the gas turbine to meet the set point.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising an estimator for computing an estimated operating characteristic from an obtained operating characteristic, wherein the obtained operating characteristic and the estimated operating characteristic are used to determine the operating measure.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the prediction unit estimates the remaining useful life of the component based on an estimated operating profile of the component and a design limit of the component.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the weightage identifier comprises an input device, and wherein an operator manually assigns the operating weightages to the gas turbine parameters based on the plant objective via the input device.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the damage identifier comprises a Bayesian estimator for collating the cumulative damage of the component of the gas turbine with actual damage measurements of the component of the gas turbine, cumulative damage of a component of an additional gas turbine, actual damage measurements of the component of the additional gas turbine, or a combination thereof to predict the estimate of the remaining useful life of the at least one component of the gas turbine.